Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit. After some experimental computer animated short films in the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), it entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). Aardman films have made $926 million world wide 12 and average $154 million per film. all of their stop motion films are along the highest grossing stop motion film with Chicken Run being their top grossing film as well as the highest grossing stop motion film of all time. History 1972–1996 Aardman Animations' headquarters in Bristol Aardman Animations' headquarters in Bristol Aardman was founded in 1972 as a low-budget project by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who wanted to realise their dream of producing an animated motion picture. The partnership provided animated sequences for the BBC series for deaf children Vision On. After creating a segment called "Greeblies" (1975) using clay animation, became what was the inspiration for creating Morph, a simple clay character. Around the same time Lord and Sproxton made their first foray into adult animation with the shorts Down and Out and Confessions of a Foyer Girl, entries in the BBC's Animated Conversations series using real-life conversations as soundtracks. However, these two shorts were not actual Aardman productions. Aardman also created the title sequence for The Great Egg Race3 and supplied animation for the multiple award winning music video of Peter Gabriel's song "Sledgehammer".4 They produced the music video for the song "My Baby Just Cares For Me" by Nina Simone in 1987. Later Aardman produced a number of shorts for Channel 4 including the Conversation Pieces series. These five shorts worked in the same area as the Animated Conversations pieces, but were more sophisticated. Lord and Sproxton began hiring more animators at this point; three of the newcomers made their directorial debut at Aardman with the Lip Synch series. Of the five Lip Synch shorts two were directed by Peter Lord, one by Barry Purves, one by Richard Goleszowski and one by Nick Park. Park's short, Creature Comforts, was the first Aardman production to win an Oscar. Park also developed the clay modelled shorts featuring the adventures of Wallace and Gromit, a comical pair of friends: Wallace being a naive English inventor with a love of cheese, and Gromit his best friend, the intelligent but silent dog. These films include A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995), the latter two winning Academy Awards. 1997–2006 In December 1997, Aardman and DreamWorks (later DreamWorks Animation) announced that their companies were teaming up to co-finance and distribute Chicken Run, Aardman's first feature film, which had already been in pre-production for a year.5 On 27 October 1999, Aardman and DreamWorks signed a $250 million6 deal to make an additional four films that were estimated to be completed during the next 12 years.7 With the deal was also announced the first project, titled The Tortoise and the Hare. Intended to be based on Aesop's fable and directed by Richard Goleszowski,8 it was put on hold two years later because of script issues.9 On 23 June 2000, Chicken Run was released to a great critical and financial success. In 2005, after ten years of absence, Wallace and Gromit returned in Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Next year followed Flushed Away, Aardman's first computer-animated feature. On 1 October 2006, right before the release of Flushed Away, The New York Times reported that due to creative differences DreamWorks Animation and Aardman would not be extending their contract.10 The deal was officially terminated on 30 January 2007.11 According to Aardman's spokesman Arthur Sheriff: "The business model of DreamWorks no longer suits Aardman and vice versa. But the split couldn't have been more amicable."11 Unofficial reasons for departure were weak performances of the last two movies, for which DreamWorks had to take writedowns,11 and citing the article, "Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with Flushed Away..."10 The studio had another film in development, Crood Awakening (Now called The Croods), which had been announced in 2005, with John Cleese co-writing the screenplay.12 With the end of the partnership, the film's rights reverted to DreamWorks.11 Meanwhile, on 10 October 2005, a serious fire at a storage facility used by Aardman and other Bristol based companies destroyed over 30 years of awards collected by the company as well as props, models, and scenery often built by the Bristol-based Cod Steaks. This warehouse was used for storage of past projects and so did not prevent the production of their current projects at the time. In addition, the company's library of finished films was stored elsewhere and was undamaged. An electrical fault was determined to be the cause of the blaze.13 Referring to the 2004 South Asia earthquake and tsunami, Park was quoted as saying, "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal."14 From 2006–2007, the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, had an exhibit featuring the works of Aardman Studios. Sproxton and Lord visited the exhibit in May 2006 and met with animator Hayao Miyazaki during the visit.15 Miyazaki has long been a fan of the Aardman Animation works.16 2007–present In April 2007, Aardman signed17 and in 2010 renewed18 a three-year deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films. The next year, Aardman released a new Wallace and Gromit short film, called A Matter of Loaf and Death. The first film made in partnership with Sony was computer-animated Arthur Christmas (2011), which is Aardman's first 3-D feature film. 2012 was the release of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (known internationally as The Pirates! Band of Misfits), Aardman's first 3-D stop-motion film and Peter Lord's first film as a director since Chicken Run. Additional two films were announced in June 2007: The Cat Burglars, a stop-motion directed by Steve Box, about cats that steal milk, and their plans to pull off 'the great milk float robbery'; and an untitled Nick Park project.19 Aardman is also known to provide generous resources and training to young animators by providing awards at various animation festivals. For example, The Aardman Award at the UK's Animex Festival in Teesside provides world class story consultation to a promising young animator, for their next film.20 In 2008, Aardman joined with Channel 4 and Lupus Films to launch a user-generated content animation portal called 4mations.21 They also designed the BBC One Christmas Idents for that year, which featured Wallace and Gromit to tie in with the showing of the new Wallace and Gromit film called A Matter of Loaf and Death on Christmas Day at 8:30pm. In April 2008, Aardman launched the Aardman YouTube channel, which is a YouTube Partner channel featuring the entire Creature Comforts TV series, the Morph series, Cracking Contraptions and clips from the Wallace and Gromit films.22 From December 2008, Aardman also started posting various flash games on Newgrounds, the majority of which are based on Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.23 In 2009, Nintendo announced that Aardman would make twelve short films using only Flipnote Studio from Nintendo DSi. The films were posted on Flipnote's Hatena web service provider. The first film was called The Sandwich Twins and was released on 16 September 2009. The remaining eleven films were released on a weekly basis until Christmas, and can also be downloaded using Hatena.24 In October 2013, Peter Lord (co-founder of Aardman Animations) created a fund raising project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The campaign has a target of £75,000 which will be used to fund 12 new one-minute episodes of Morph. Lord is hoping to start production in January 2014 using the original stop-frame animation. Backers of the project will receive a variety of rewards, including early access to the new animations and a small box of clay used in the production, depending on the individual's level of funding.2526 Company name The company name is taken from one of its early characters, a superhero created for Vision On in 1972needed. Unlike the claymation productions that the company are famous for, Aardman was cel-animatedneeded. The name derives from the Dutch phrase "aard man" meaning Nature Man, when joined together, "aardman" becomes "Earthman" more commonly translated to: "goblin"needed. However, co-founder David Sproxton has claimed that the name was a result of being unable to "find another word with more A's in it than 'aardvark'" as schoolboys.27 Non-Aardman productions by Aardman directors A number of Aardman directors have worked at other studios, taking the distinctive Aardman style with them. Aardman's Steve Box directed the animated music video for the Spice Girls' final single as a five-piece, "Viva Forever". Widely regarded as the Spice Girls' most critically acclaimed song, the video took over 5 months to produce, considerably longer than the group's box office hit movie, Spice World. Barry Purves, director of the Aardman short Next, also directed Hamilton Mattress for Harvest Films. The film, a half-hour special that premiered on Christmas Day 2001, was produced by Chris Moll, producer of the Wallace and Gromit short film The Wrong Trousers. The models were provided by Mackinnon & Saunders, a firm that did the same for Bob the Builder and Corpse Bride. Similarly, Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire, a BBC Bristol/Comic Relief production, was directed by Richard Goleszowski, creator of Rex the Runt. Its sequel, Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe, was directed by Peter Peake, whose directorial credits for Aardman include Pib and Pog and Humdrum. Aardman alumni also produced many of the claymation shorts used in the 1986–1990 American television series Pee-wee's Playhouse.2829 Filmography Feature films # Title Year Budget Gross RT In partnership with 1 Chicken Run 2000 $45 million $224.8 million 97% DreamWorks Animation 2 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 2005 $30 million $192.6 million 95% 3 Flushed Away 2006 $149 million $178.1 million 72% 4 Arthur Christmas 2011 $100 million $147.2 million 92% Sony Pictures Animation 5 The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists 2012 $55 million $121.6 million 87% 6 Shaun the Sheep Movie 2015 N/A $59.7 million 100% StudioCanal 7 Early Man30 2018 $50 million N/A N/A Television series/series of shorts # Title Premiere date End date Network 1 The Great Egg Race (opening titles) 1979 1986 BBC 2 The Amazing Adventures of Morph 13 October 1980 1981 BBC 3 Round the Bend (animated segments; False Teeth from Beyond the Stars, Attack of the Atomic Banana, False Teeth vs. Atom Banana) 6 January 1989 1 July 1991 ITV 4 The Morph Files 1 July 1995 23 September 1995 BBC 5 Rex the Runt 21 December 1998 16 December 2001 BBC Two 6 Angry Kid 1999 2007 BBC Four 7 Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions 15 October 2002 Christmas 2002 BBC One 8 The Presentators 2003 2004 Nickelodeon 9 Creature Comforts 1 October 2003 18 June 2007 ITV CBS Animal Planet 10 Planet Sketch 2005 2010 CITV Teletoon 11 Purple and Brown 2006 2007 Nickelodeon 12 Pib and Pog 2006 2006 13 Shaun the Sheep 5 March 2007 present CBBC 14 Creature Comforts America 31 4 June 2007 18 June 2007 CBS 15 Chop Socky Chooks 17 March 2008 28 November 2008 Cartoon Network 16 A Town Called Panic January 2009 January 2009 Nickelodeon 17 Timmy Time 6 April 2009 13 July 2012 Cbeebies 18 Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention 3 November 2010 8 December 2010 BBC 19 Canimals3233 9 June 2011 present BRB Internacional 20 Ploo34 26 July 2017 presents Nickelodeon 21 DC Nation Shorts35 11 November 2011 27 July 2014 Cartoon Network 22 Shaun the Sheep 3D36 7 March 2012 13 June 2012 Nintendo Video 23 Shaun The Sheep Championsheeps37 2 July 2012 13 July 2012 CBBC 24 Brand new Morph 38 4 July 2014 6 March 2015 YouTube 39 25 The New Adventures of Morph40 June 2015 present CBBC Short films # Title Release date 1 Animated Conversations: Down and Out 17 October 1977 2 Animated Conversations: Confessions of a Foyer Girl 16 October 1978 3 Conversation Pieces: On Probation 9 April 1983 4 Conversation Pieces: Sales Pitch 22 June 1983 5 Conversation Pieces: Palmy Days 24 July 1983 6 Conversation Pieces: Early Bird 8 September 1983 7 Conversation Pieces: Late Edition 18 June 1983 8 Sweet Disaster: Babylon 1 January 1986 9 Going Equipped 10 July 1987 10 A Grand Day Out 24 December 1989 11 Creature Comforts 15 July 1989 12 War Story 27 September 1989 13 Ident 31 December 1989 14 Next 18 October 1989 15 Adam 6 June 1991 16 Rex the Runt: North by North Pole 3 January 1993 17 Loves Me, Loves Me Not 23 June 1993 18 Not Without My Handbag 14 November 1993 19 The Wrong Trousers 26 December 1993 20 Pib and Pog 19 June 1993 21 Pop 18 June 1993 23 Rex the Runt: How the Dinosaurs Became Extinct 31 December 1993 24 A Close Shave 24 December 1995 25 The Art Box Bunch 29 December 1995 22 Wat's Pig 1 June 1996 26 Owzat 15 May 1997 27 Stage Fright 19 November 1997 28 Humdrum 15 May 1998 29 Al Dente 30 December 1998 30 Minotaur and Little Nerkin 31 December 1999 31 The Non-Voters (for the BBC Election coverage) 2004 32 A Matter of Loaf and Death 25 December 2008 33 Dot 1 January 2010 34 Gulp 23 June 2011 35 The Itch of The Golden Nit 19 November 2011 36 DC's World Funnest ("DC Nation Shorts") 2012-2014 37 Timmy Time – Timmy's Christmas Surprise 12 December 2011 38, Timmy time – Timmy's Seaside Rescue 13 July 2012 39 Wallace & Gromit's Jubilee Bunt-a-thon 2 June 2012 40 So You Want to Be a Pirate! 28 August 2012 41 Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels 27 August 2012 42 Darkside4142 20 August 2013 43 Sphere 2013 44 Zombie Fairy43 6 November 2014 46 Special Delivery44 2015 47 Shaun the Sheep – The Farmer’s Llamas Christmas 2015 Music Videos # Title Release date 1 Sledgehammer 12 March 1986 2 My Baby Just Cares for Me 19 June 1987 3 Barefootin 10 July 1987 4 Viva Forever 1 January 1998 5 Life's A Treat 10 July 2007 6 Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Justin Bieber Cover) 23 June 2011 7 Life's A Treat (Rizzle Kicks Remix) 10 July 2015 8 Feels Like Summer 31 December 2015 Commercials This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2013) Lurpak Enterprise 64 Cuprinol Enhance Cadbury's Crème Egg Cadbury's Crunchie Kellogg's Rice Krispies Lyle's Golden Syrup Weetos BBC Two Christmas IDs (1995) Walkers Potato Crisps and Snacks Quavers (1996) Chevron Cars Dairylea Lipton Serta Counting Sheep BBC One Christmas IDs (2001, 2008) Polo British Telecom BBC Three idents (2003–2008) E4 Itchy Dog (2003) Jacob's Crackers Kellogg's Fruit Twistables Hubba Bubba PG Tips (2003-2005) Npower Watch idents (2009) National Accident Helpline featuring Underdog (2009) Hotels.com (2009)45 VisitEngland McDonald's Happy Meal (2015) Apps Escargot Escape Artistes (2015)46 Books Tristan Davies, Nick Park, Nick Newman (1997); Wallace & Gromit and the Lost Slipper. Adler's Foreign Books. ISBN 978-0-8417-2026-8 Peter Lord; Brian Sibley (1998). Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation. Thames & Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-28168-0 Tristan Davies; Nick Newman (1998). Wallace & Gromit in Anoraknophobia. Adler's Foreign Books. ISBN 978-0-8417-2031-2 Tristan Davies; Nick Newman (1999). Wallace & Gromit: Crackers in Space. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-71289-4 Andy Lane (2003). Creating Creature Comforts. Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-1564-8 Andy Lane (2004). The World of Wallace & Gromit. Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-1558-7 Category:Companies established in 1972 Category:Aardman Animations Category:Television production companies of the United Kingdom Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Academy Award winners Category:Empire Inspiration Award winners Category:British animation studios Category:1972 establishments in the United Kingdom